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Origin and history

The Tower of the Four is a medieval tower erected in the 15th century, probably shortly before 1468, in the town of Fougères, in Ille-et-Vilaine. It was part of the eastern ramparts of the upper city, connecting the Roger Gate to the Saint Leonard Gate. Today, it remains only the base, built of corneal and granite bellows, with a stone strip of mid-height. This tower, once equipped with cannon guns, lost its upper part, now integrated into an 18th century mansion, the Beschu Hotel in Champsavin.

The tower owes its name to a nearby common oven, the most important of Fougères. It was between two missing elements of the fortifications: the Roger Gate and the Tour du Midi. Nearby, a breach in the wall, wrongly called Thuolays Gate or Tiotais, existed in the 18th century. The tower, like the adjacent street, bears the name of this historic furnace, recalling its collective use in the Middle Ages.

The Tower of the Four is one of the few visible remains of the Fougères ramparts, whose degradation began at the end of the Old Regime, due to their lack of military utility and lack of maintenance. It was classified as a historic monument on 15 December 1926, thus preserving this testimony of the Breton urban fortifications. Its current address, 7 rue du Four (formerly rue Beaurepaire or Dauphine), reflects the toponymic changes associated with French political developments.

Architecturally, the tower is distinguished by its stone base and granite strip, typical of the Breton defensive constructions of the 15th century. Its partial arasement and its integration into an 18th-century mansion illustrate the re-use of medieval structures in later urban planning. The gunboats, now missing, recall its original military function in an urban defence system.

The precise location of the tower, on the Napoleonic cadastre of 1821 (parcelle AT 606, formerly B 1056), attests to its anchoring in the urban fabric of Fougères. Rue du Four, a narrow street reserved for residents, connects Rue de Verdun (formerly the Marché) to Rue Chateaubriand, highlighting its role in the historic circulation of the city.

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